Current affairs

Somersett's Case: William Murrary, 1st Earl of Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, rules that slaves could not be taken out of their country against their will after the case of American slave John Somersett is brought before him.Royal Marriages Act requires the monarch's consent for the marriage of all members of the royal family.

Art and science

Chemist Daniel Rutherford demonstrates his method for isolating nitrogen from other gases.Inventor James Watt produces the first micrometer to simply and accurately measure small distances. It is to prove crucial in the development of early machinery. Britain's first trunk canal, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, opens for business.

International

Swiss pastor Johann Kaspar Lavater's Essays on Physiognomy revive the study of character through outward appearance. Captain James Cook sets off, aboard HMS Resolution, on his second Pacific voyage.First partition of Poland marks the start of Poland's disappearance as an independent state.

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